Deerfield Beach Medication Error Lawyer
We trust our doctors and pharmacists with our medications and prescriptions, but unfortunately medication errors are far more common than we realize. Doctors make mistakes in their prescriptions, nurses err in their administration of medications, and pharmacists fail to warn patients about adverse interactions with other medications. According to the Food and Drug Administration, an estimated 1.3 million people are injured every year in the United States because of medication errors. Our Deerfield Beach medication error lawyers at Leifer & Ramirez are experienced in various medication error cases.
How Medication Errors Occur
Medication errors can happen in a hospital, doctor’s office, or pharmacy. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals can all be responsible for an error in medication. Most often, these errors involve a mistake in the type or dosage of a medication. The most common medication errors include:
- A doctor prescribing the wrong medication
- A doctor prescribing a new medication that cannot be mixed with another medication the patient is taking
- A doctor prescribing a medication the patient is allergic to
- A medical professional making errors in prescription – writing, reading, or dispensing
- A medical professional administering the wrong dosage
- A medical professional that reads a doctor’s instructions incorrectly
- A pharmacist dispensing the wrong medication
- A pharmacist dispensing the wrong dosage of a medication
- A pharmacist giving incorrect instructions to a patient
- A pharmacist dispensing a new medication that cannot be mixed with another medication the patient is taking
A Deerfield Beach Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help
In order to prove medical malpractice in a medication error case, the following elements must be present:
Duty of care: Medical professionals are required to provide all patients with a level of care that equals the standard for all medical professionals in their field. This applies to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and all other medical professionals that have contact with patients.
Breach in the duty of care: The medical professional fails to provide the appropriate level of care.
Causation: The breach in the duty of care causes direct harm to the patient
Injury and damages: Because of the breach in the duty of care, the patient suffers emotional, physical, and/or economic harm. This includes additional medical bills, lost wages, or pain and suffering that results from the error in medication.
Medical malpractice lawsuits that arise from medication errors are often lengthy and complex. Florida law requires a complicated set of pre-lawsuit filings and settlement negotiation before a case is even allowed to go to trial. The window for filing a lawsuit is small, for some as little as two years. The evidence and discovery process for a medication error lawsuit is technical and requires someone experienced to handle the case. The Deerfield Beach attorneys at Leifer & Ramirez have experience with medication error lawsuits and have years of experience navigating the difficult medical malpractice process in Florida.
Contact Our Deerfield Beach Office Today
Call the Leifer & Ramirez at 561-660-9421 today to schedule a free consultation of your medication error case. If you or a loved one is injured because of a medication error, our medical malpractice lawyers will fight to make sure you get the compensation you deserve. You should not have to suffer because of a doctor’s mistake.